Hope for Milford barn; but money at issue

Updated 11:17 pm, Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Walnut Beach Association President Joe Garbus discusses his vision for a turn of the century post and beam barn owned by the city on Stowe Avenue in Milford, Conn. on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. Garbus seeks funding to convert the barn into a venue for theater or fine arts. less

Walnut Beach Association President Joe Garbus discusses his vision for a turn of the century post and beam barn owned by the city on Stowe Avenue in Milford, Conn. on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. Garbus seeks funding ... more

Walnut Beach Association President Joe Garbus discusses his vision for a turn of the century post and beam barn owned by the city on Stowe Avenue in Milford, Conn. on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. Garbus seeks funding to convert the barn into a venue for theater or fine arts. less

Walnut Beach Association President Joe Garbus discusses his vision for a turn of the century post and beam barn owned by the city on Stowe Avenue in Milford, Conn. on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. Garbus seeks funding ... more

The city-owned turn of the century post and beam barn on Stowe Avenue in Milford, Conn. on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. The Walnut Beach Association seeks funding to convert the barn into a venue for theater or fine arts. less

The city-owned turn of the century post and beam barn on Stowe Avenue in Milford, Conn. on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. The Walnut Beach Association seeks funding to convert the barn into a venue for theater or fine ... more

The city-owned turn of the century post and beam barn on Stowe Avenue in Milford, Conn. on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. The Walnut Beach Association seeks funding to convert the barn into a venue for theater or fine arts. less

The city-owned turn of the century post and beam barn on Stowe Avenue in Milford, Conn. on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. The Walnut Beach Association seeks funding to convert the barn into a venue for theater or fine ... more

The city-owned turn of the century post and beam barn on Stowe Avenue in Milford, Conn. on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. The Walnut Beach Association seeks funding to convert the barn into a venue for theater or fine arts. less

The city-owned turn of the century post and beam barn on Stowe Avenue in Milford, Conn. on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. The Walnut Beach Association seeks funding to convert the barn into a venue for theater or fine ... more

MILFORD -- When Joseph Garbus moved into the Walnut Beach part of the city back in the mid-1980s, the neighborhood was filled with vacant, vandalized storefronts. Graffiti was everywhere, and after dark, the criminal element seemed to rule the streets.

Now there are restaurants and art galleries, and Walnut Beach seems to have recaptured much of the allure it had in the days when it was a vacation destination for sweltering New Yorkers.

But there's one piece of the puzzle that's missing: full renovation of the cavernous Stowe barn, which Garbus hopes someday to turn into an art gallery and teaching center, and maybe even a rustic, yet elegant space for the performing arts.

Garbus, president of the Walnut Beach Association, said he sees the barn on Stowe Avenue becoming something like a 21st century Weir Farm, where for decades artists and sculptors honed their craft under the tutelage of the masters.

It also could be a theater, seating about 300, he said.

"It's totally not right to leave this barn like this," said Garbus of the picturesque building, which sits just three blocks from the beach. "This is the cherry on the cake, and it could be a huge tourism draw. It would serve the community, tourism and the arts."

The fact that the Stowe dairy barn is even standing is something of a miracle in itself. It's on a prime 2-acre site, surrounded by a grassy meadow.

Over the years it somehow escaped being turned into a condominium complex or a suburban housing tract, despite being in a densely settled shorefront community.

The old dairy barn was built in 1920, according to city records. It was owned by the Stowe family until 2002, when it was sold to a developer, Standish Home Builders Inc., which held onto the building for six months.

Standish had wanted to turn the property into a condominium complex with about 36 units. The city took over the barn and its grounds in July 2002 for $2 million, owing to its historical value.

The farmhouse and other unattached buildings that were part of the deal were sold to private interests to recoup a little more than half of that cost, city officials said.

"In fact, we collect more in property taxes now from the buildings that were sold than we did when that property was intact," said Tom Ivers, the city's block grant coordinator.

In 2007, city officials said a plan to turn the barn into a space for thespians, musicians and artists would cost $7 million.

But Ivers said the dream for turning the barn into an art space could be accomplished "for less than half that."

Still, $3 million-plus is a lot of money; money the city doesn't have now, Mayor Benjamin Blake said.

"There's been several proposals for that property," Blake told the Connecticut Post. "And we're looking for the right proposal, and right now we don't have the money to fix it up. And with (Superstorm) Sandy and so forth, there are a number of other things that we have to focus on."

Ivers said city planners see the barn as eventually becoming not only a gallery space, but home to the Milford Fine Arts Council. The stage space would remain downtown in the former railroad station.

The city has had the barn painted and fitted with a new roof.

There's an attached living quarters that Garbus said could serve as a ticket booth or a place to sell snacks, T-shirts and the like. There's also garage space under the barn.

The parking lot of the adjacent Simon Lake School could also provide parking for barn activities.

"Critics say that there's no parking here, but there's plenty of parking, just beyond that fence," Garbus said, eyeing the school's paved lot.

There have been a number of proposals for turning the barn into an art center, but none have worked out so far, Ivers said.

The smell of farm animals is long gone, but there's plenty of evidence of days gone by.

Leaning against the wall, still upright, is a contraption called a pole and evener, used to harness a pair of plow horses to heavy farm equipment.

Next to it, is a stack of bushel baskets. Up in the loft is an odd-looking piece of farm machinery, the purpose of which could not be easily determined.

Garbus, 72, who came to the U.S. in 1951, said he's undaunted by what he sees as a city slow to make progress on the barn.

He has seen plenty of adversity in his day -- born in Pinsk, Russia, (now Belarus), he spent his infancy in a Soviet displacement camp during World War II while his father was shipped off to a Siberian gulag.

His dad survived that ordeal, and Garbus said the barn will see better days, too.

"This is a beautiful building," he said. "Look at the height of this place."